Travel Promotion Agency Ordered To Halt Practices

January 10, 1992|By ERIC CONRAD, Staff Writer

BOCA RATON -- A local travel-promotions company, the subject of more than 450 consumer inquiries and complaints in South Florida since November, has been ordered to stop doing business in the state of Missouri.

Orion Promotions Inc., of the 2200 block of Boca Raton Boulevard, is under a 10-day cease and desist order issued by Missouri Attorney General William Webster. The order took effect on Dec. 30.

John Baker, a spokesman for the attorney general, said Orion chief Jordan Schleider agreed to stop mailing controversial promotional brochures to Missouri residents. Webster is expected to extend the cease and desist order today, Baker said.

Orion mails 10,000 certificates a day to consumers nationwide, saying recipients are guaranteed a vacation to Orlando and the Bahamas, Baker said. When people call Orion`s 1-800 number about the offer, they are told they must buy a $549 membership to a shop-at-home network in order to get the trip.

``It`s basically hidden terms and charges,`` Baker said.

Orion`s mailings have prompted 456 people to call the Better Business Bureau in West Palm Beach to inquire or complain, bureau President David Fancher said. Those calls have come since Nov. 7, Fancher said.

The Better Business Bureau says Orion has not established a track record as far as handling consumer complaints. Fancher said Schleider had an unsatisfactory record of resolving complaints when he worked with American Survey Corp. of Boca Raton, which ran a similar promotion.

Schleider, interviewed by telephone, said the Missouri action is ``no big deal.`` He said several states outlaw such promotions, so Orion does not mail certificates to residents there. Missouri was simply added to the list.

The Missouri attorney general gave Orion the option of adding a few sentences to its travel certificates, explaining that callers have to buy shopping network memberships to qualify for the trips. Schleider said he decided that reprinting the literature would be too expensive.